Odd Thoughts by JMSOG

I had heard terrible things, and was therefore...hesitant...to watch it until now.

I'm halfway through season one, so it could go downhill at any point...But it's actually really good. Phlox is fantastic. Trip is fantastic. Everyone seems to hate T'Pol's character, but she's fantastic. Archer is inconsistant, but he CAN BE fantastic.

The show, unlike all the star trek I've watched up until now, actually FEELS like it's set in space. The crew is in a tin can with experimental hardware that can fail at any time, and it really feels like it. These characters feel closer to astronauts, and i think that's important for the time period.

So far, there've been some interesting ideas...that one episode where we never learn the alien's motivations at all, "Dear Doctor", the fact that humanity is essentially at the recieving end of the Prime Directive...

Best part of all really is Phlox. He alone would make this show worth watching. Spock wanted to interact with humans as equals, Data wanted to be human, Odo wanted to be accepted by the humanoids...but it feels like Phlox views humans as bacteria in a petri dish. That's an AWESOME interpretation.

...really hoping this doesn't go drastically downhill. I have hope. I HAVE FAIIIIITH...FAITH OF THE HEAAAAAAART...

So, about two weeks ago, I biked 6 and a half miles in 100 degree heat to get the final wave of G2 at Toys R Us. They had Umarak, Storm Beast, Lava Beast, but not the other two. I checked a few other stores, but they were not there either.

Over the last two weeks since, to periodically check other stores, I have (still in the 100+ degree heat) biked over 25 miles total, walked over 10 miles total, and came pretty close to heat stroke on three occasions, all to STILL NOT FIND EKIMU AND QUAKE BEAST.

It occured to me a few minutes ago that I did all of that to avoid the $6 shipping charge that I would not have to pay in-store.

I think every single person who saw episode 1 latched onto this little guy. We all saw Takua in him, and that was a powerful nostalgia wave.

But now, I see him, and I just had an epiphany...When I was 5 years old, just building these sets and hearing the story for the first time, I was twokua. I was the one staring at these characters in awe and wonder, hoping to one day be a hero like them.

And I think that may be why I personally liked that scene...I may not have conciously thought it, but when gen2 was announced, I knew that all over the world, there would be kids becoming twokua all over again. Everyone on this site knows how important and powerful that is.

...And now, with G2's end, these little twokuas just watched their heros fall too soon. I've seen some stories already...I read one account by a parent already who's child screamed when he found out gen2 was cancelled, after he had just finished JtO no less.

I know that personally, my experience as a twokua was one of the most major factors in creating the person I am today. I'm guessing the same is true for many of us.

Bionicle may be officially over, but the stories that made us stare up in wonder still exist...carry on the story. Tell it to your kids. Tell it to your nephews and neices. Tell it to your little brothers and sisters. Be like Narmoto in JtO, or Vakama in the all-of-early-gen1. Give them that moment where they look up, and want to be a hero like the toa.

This was written at 2:36 in the morning, so it may be slightly incoherant.